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ask." France has also expressed prudence, with a French economy ministry official telling reporters earlier this week that "many nuclear power plants use fuel of Russian energy." France produces 80% of its power from nuclear.
Russia is set to replace German-made hydropower plant turbines with Iranian-made ones, as Western sanctions have disrupted operations of German manufacturer Siemens in Russia since February 2022. According to RT, Russia has started producing Iranian-designed components to substitute Siemens turbines in the plants. The sanctions have prevented the maintenance of German-made equipment. Russia has the capability to produce small and medium turbines, however, the large capacity turbines between 100-120 megawatts were constructed at a Siemens factory within Russia. An Iranian official announced in October 2022 that Iran would supply Russia with 40 turbines as part of a contract to support its gas industry. As a result of the sanctions, Russia is turning to Iran for its hydropower needs, marking a shift in the country's reliance on foreign suppliers. The move highlights the impact of sanctions on multinational companies and the need for countries to seek alternative sources for their industrial needs.
9.1.11 Metallurgy & mining sector news
European metals supply has taken a battering since the start of 2022. By December, basic metals production in the euro-zone had fallen by 13% from its pandemic-era peak, spread evenly across several metals. percentage National data from non-euro-zone countries percentage paint a similarly bleak picture, as do data from industry sources, such as the IAI and the WSA. The latter reveal that aluminium production plummeted by 12.5% in 2022 in Western and Central Europe and steel output tumbled by 10.5% in the EU. The sharp drop in wholesale European gas and electricity prices has thrown the metals industry in Europe a lifeline. At ~€50 per MWh, front-month European gas (TTF) prices have plunged by ~85% since the staggering peak last August. And electricity prices across Europe have charted a similar path. Average electricity prices across a sample of 14 European countries have fallen by ~70% since then. That said, the industry isn’t anywhere close to escaping the clutches of the energy crisis yet, for three reasons. First, despite the rapid descent of power prices, they are still extremely elevated by historical standards. Indeed, electricity prices were still roughly three times higher in January than the average price between 2015-2019.
9.1.13 Other sector news
Synthetic rubber production in primary forms soared by 14.2% y/y to 121,000 metric tonnes in January 2023, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said on February 23. Plastics production in primary forms lost 6.5%
158 RUSSIA Country Report March 2023 www.intellinews.com